Scholarship / Financial aid: a montly income or scholarships available

Date: varies from one year to 2, 3 or 4 years

Deadline: January 7th, 2012

Open to: applicants with a university degree equivalent to a Master's degree or with a Doctoral degree, from various fileds

Announcement follows

1. Post-Doctoral Fellowship

The Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies offers possibilities for post-doctoral fellowships, with either employment for three years and an eventual prolongation for an additional three years, or shorter period assignments of one year. Candidates need to have a doctoral degree. We encourage research which engages in one of the aspects of the scientific activities of the Leo Apostel Centre. Because of the broad scope of the research at the Leo Apostel Centre, candidates with a variety of scientific backgrounds are welcomed: from mathematics and physics, computer science, biology and engineering, to psychology, cognitive science, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, economics, complex systems and others.

CLEA is interested in candidates motivated to investigate the foundations of one of the scientific disciplines as well as the foundations of interdisciplinary theory.

The variety of solicited research domains includes, but is not restricted to: foundations of biology, including evolution theory and epigenetics, and questions with respect to the nature and origin of life, foundations of mathematics and physics, with a special interest in relativity theory and quantum mechanics, foundations of cognition, with a special interest in concept theories, decision theories, theories of meaning, foundations of computer science, with a special interest in artificial intelligence, semantic analysis theories, and basics of information retrieval, foundations of economics, with a special interest in behavioral economics, and fundamental theories of risk and probability, foundations of sociology and anthropology, with a special interest in theories of cultural evolution, science and technology studies, aspects of constructivism, and world views research, and philosophy, with special interest in the philosophy of science, philosophy of meaning and meaningfulness. CLEA is also specifically interested in employing mathematicians engaged in mathematical modeling in various interdisciplinary contexts.

Candidates are invited to describe in their application their specific interest and view on the research they intend to pursue. The variety of the research areas developed in CLEA show our center is open to original ideas and truly wants to stimulate researchers to ponder over the 'big questions' in each of the disciplines from a constant interdisciplinary perspective.

2. Doctoral Scholarships

The Leo Apostel Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies offers possibilities for doctoral scholarships, with employment for two years and with eventual prolongation for an additional two years (hence a total of four years). The purpose is to work towards a doctoral degree during these four years. Candidates need a university degree equivalent to a Master's degree in order to start a doctorate. The subject of the doctorate should engage with one of the aspects of the scientific activities of the Leo Apostel Centre. Refer to the previous section for a description of these activities.

As an alternative, CLEA will in the near future start a program (the "CLEA E-doctoral program") in which a limited number of applicants with a Master's degree can obtain a doctoral research association with CLEA. This association essentially concerns the inscription into the general doctoral program of the VUB and scholarly follow-up by a CLEA-supervisor, and will not comprise an actual scholarship. However CLEA resources can be made available for support in research requirements, conference attendance and mobility. This program solicits outstanding students with research ambitions that synergistically combine with CLEA research. The successful completion of the program - including a public defense of the thesis - leads to an official PhD-degree of the "interdisciplinary doctorate" of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The general eligibility conditions to enroll in the PhD-program can be verified on the VUB website:

The applicant interested in the E-doctoral program with CLEA at Brussels Free University, should indicate this option clearly in his or her motivation letter.

How to Apply

A candidate who wants to apply for a post-doctoral fellowship or a doctoral scholarship, needs to submit an application online before January 7th, 2012. The following information and documents need to be pasted in the respective fields of the dedicated webpage which will be temporarily online at:

The exact date of doctoral graduation (or the anticipated date of the PhD defense, if this is earlier than June 1st, 2012.

A detailed list of publications (ordered chronologically, for publications in ISI-journals the impact factor needs to be indicated) and appended, a list of conferences you attended as a contributor.

A curriculum vitae.

An application letter. May also contain a short text where the candidate explains his or her specific interest in working at the Leo Apostel Centre, and any material which the candidate considers to be relevant for his or her application.

Do NOT send any scan of diplomas or proofs of tests such as TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language). In this first stage of the call no further documents need to be sent.

For candidates applying for a doctoral scholarship, a description of the studies that have been undertaken has to be included. The short curriculum vitae also needs to include data such as nationality and date of birth, and the dates on which the master's diploma(s) has/have been awarded. If the applicant already has publications, they need to be listed as described in details in the post-doctoral fellowship applicants section.

A first selection will take place between January 9th and January 13th, 2012. Scientists who are interested but not able to apply before January 9th are encouraged to take an informal contact, announcing when their application should be expected.

More information

More information on the CLEA E-doctoral program can be obtained by sending your questions via e-mail to clea@vub.ac.be